Picks and Pans Review: Weezer

"Beverly Hills," the first single from Weezer's fifth disc, is the kind of cheeky, catchy punk-pop that put these nerd rockers on the music map in the mid-'90s with hits like "Buddy Holly" and "Undone—The Sweater Song." Led by horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing frontman Rivers Cuomo, they continue to be the poster boys for self-deprecating geeks everywhere on tracks like the metal-tinged "Perfect Situation": "There's the pitch, slow and straight/All I have to do is swing and I'm a hero/But I'm a zero." While they inject cuts like the just-say-no anthem "We Are All on Drugs" with their sardonic wit, they also bring genuine emotion to songs such as the last-ditch plea "This Is Such a Pity," a Cars-esque slice of synth pop, and the heartfelt mea culpa "Pardon Me."